I didn’t think I’d be writing so much about Michigan football this offseason, but the Wolverines just can’t seem to escape scandals.
For months, Michigan fans loved to flash the “wins forfeited” graphic with Michigan State, Penn State, and Ohio State having been punished by the NCAA for different reasons and having some past victories wiped away to show that those football programs are “dirtier” than the one in Ann Arbor. It was used as more of a troll because I think Michigan fans know that the sign-stealing scandal is a major deal and it should’ve been taken more seriously by the NCAA.
Unfortunately, Michigan received a slap on the wrist in the form of fines, a short suspension for then-head coach Sherrone Moore, a “ban” of Jim Harbaugh from the NCAA for 10 years and Connor Stalions for eight years, and a four-year probationary period with a loss of official visits and a prohibition on some recruiting communication.
For one of the biggest scandals in the history of college athletics, that feels like a nothingburger.
Michigan State, on the other hand, received a $30,000 fine and 1.5% of its football budget, limited official visits and a reduction in recruiting days, a few show-cause orders or “bans” to a few staffers, and 14 vacated wins over a three-season span. All of that for playing an ineligible player.
And that was an investigation that Michigan State fully cooperated in with the NCAA and the deal was negotiated by former AD Alan Haller before he left. Just an egregious comparison when you consider what each football program’s “crime” was.
However, the latest lawsuit by ex-assistant Chris Partridge against the University of Michigan should force the NCAA’s hand to make an example out of the Wolverines’ football program.
Maybe not the death penalty (Michigan fans have been calling for this regarding Michigan State incidents for years) but definitely something that will show other athletic programs that you can’t just do whatever you want and get away with it.
The NCAA needs to make an example out of Michigan
For some reason, the NCAA made an example out of Michigan State for playing an ineligible player during a stretch of years in which the Spartans didn’t even sniff a bowl game.
Michigan won a national title during its scandal and some might attribute that championship to the cheating that went on. But it’s only the cheating that the program may be guilty of.
A recent wrongful termination lawsuit filed by Partridge against his former school alleges that AD Warde Manuel and then-school president Santa Ono both knew about the sign-stealing and told staffers not to come forward with any information to compliance or the NCAA. They basically instructed the coaches and players to break NCAA rules and suppress information. That alone should result in a multi-year bowl ban and more probation and restrictions.
Then, Partridge alleged that Manuel knew about the affair between Paige Shiver and Sherrone Moore and did absolutely nothing but sweep it under the rug. He knew that his coach was having an affair outside of his marriage with someone that was employed by the university under Moore’s leadership — and did nothing.
Moore would then be accused of stalking, harassing, and nearly harming himself after the news went public about that affair. It could have ended so much worse than it did.
That’s just the latest example of Michigan corruption and scandalous behavior that has gone relatively unpunished by the NCAA and it’s time for them to make things right after the previous slap on the wrist and make Michigan State’s penalty look like child’s play.
Again, all of this is alleged by Partridge, but if it comes out that he was correct, the punishment by the NCAA better be otherworldly.
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